On September, 10th, 2020 Forum for Safe Motherhood (White Ribbon Alliance Pakistan Chapter) organized its fourth Listening Session in District Sanghar of Sindh province. Organized in collaboration with the Costed Implementation Plan (CIP) Secretariat, Population Welfare Department, Government of Sindh, the session aimed at bringing forward women’s key asks regarding Family Planning as well as their suggestions for addressing the same; and then taking these voices to concerned decision makers at the district level.
The session was conducted at the office of Forum’s partner organization Sindh Rural Support Organization (SRSO) Office in Sanghar. A total of 15 women from the local community participated in the first half of the Listening Session, which was moderated by a female staff member from SRSO, with support from Forum’s Provincial Coordinator.
The second half of the session focused on the district managers and was attended by: Mr. Mir Muhammad, Assistant District Health Officer (ADHO); Mr. Muhammad Sharif Thaheem, District Population Welfare (DPW) Officer; Mr. Asghar Arain, Deputy Officer Deputy Population Welfare (DPW); Dr. Faiz Muhammad, District Coordination Officer (DCO) National Program; Mr. Umer Bashir Bajwa, District Manager (DM) at People Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI); and Mr. Roshan Panhwar, District Manager (DM) at Integrated Health Services (IHS).
The moderator of the Listening Session is distributing masks among the participants to ensure compliance with the SOPs.
The Moderator is briefing the participants about the project “Family Planning to Achieve What Women Want” under which the Listening Session is being conducted.
The participants are listening carefully to the ‘What Women Want’ campaign demands. We can see that all participants are following the COVID related SOPS as laid down by the government.
A participant is giving feedback in response to the questions from the moderator.
The government representatives are listening to the demands and suggestions of women that came forwards in the session with women.
The government representatives not only gave feedback on the suggestions put forward but also noted them down for consideration & record.
